Chương 21: Small Dragon, Big Problem

For the first time, the marsh fell silent. Dead silent. The only sound was the sickening crack of beating wings in the sky. Closer… Closer… Closer…

"We should go," Vaelith said. For the first time since I'd known her, she looked panicked.

"Shit," Pip said.

"A dragon? A fucking dragon!" Gleaming emerald against the morning sun, accompanied by a shadow. I looked around. There were some reeds, but nothing that would give us true cover. The goblin camp was too open, nothing but trampled mud, scattered reed-beds, and shallow pools reflecting the pale light above. Too late anyway. There was a sound of rushing wind, and then— Slam! Before us stood a dragon with gleaming scales of emerald. Mud and water exploded outward from where it landed.

Its wings folded against its body, and its claws sank into the soaked earth. It gave us one look with bright blue eyes, a derisive snort, and then it turned to feast on an already dead goblin. I whispered.

"I agree, we should go…" Just then, from the reeds, came a goblin, rushing toward us holding a small contraption. A single-shot crossbow.

"Die!" the goblin screamed, firing a shot at Vaelith, who sidestepped it. It flew, hit the dragon in the back, and bounced off, doing nothing at all. The dragon's head perked up, and it turned, staring at each of us in turn. When it saw the crossbow in the goblin's hands, it roared, beat its wings as it jumped, and landed on top of the goblin. With a single snap, the goblin's head was gone. The dragon was so close that I almost caught a sideswipe of its tail.

It devoured the goblin quickly, turned, and roared again. There was nothing but hunger in those eyes.

"Run or fight?" I yelled." Run!" Vaelith replied.

"Is that a real question? Fucking run!"

"Run! Run!" Darwin echoed, bouncing between my shoulders. And so we ran. Into the reeds, into the water, and out into the muck. Every beat of wings and brush of wind against my back made it seem as if that was the end. Mud sucked at my boots. Reeds whipped my face and arms. The stench of marsh water filled my nose, sour and rotten, mixed with the coppery stink of goblin blood. I ran until my legs burned and I could run no more. I hid behind a gnarled tree. There was a hole, and I could see birds' eyes looking out.

I could almost sense them telling me to fuck off and take the dragon with me. I felt the ground shake, and then I heard heavy breathing. I smelled something reptilian in the air, permeating over the rotting sweet marsh odor.

"Danger, danger," Darwin said." Shh," I replied. Softer, Darwin repeated, "Danger, danger." I'd have narrowed my eyes if I wasn't so scared. Assuming it was the same dragon as was on the wanted poster, this was supposedly only a lesser dragon, whatever that meant. It was still taller than I was, standing on all fours, if only just. If this were only a lesser one, then I could hardly imagine a normal dragon, or some kind of elder if that even existed at all.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The emerald dragon scratched the tree as if taunting me. I could hear the bark break and snap under the weight and sharpness of the creature's nails. The whole trunk trembled with each slow scrape. Shit… I was going to die. Would I be reborn again? Would I be sent back home? To Earth? Or would I die, die? The unknown is what gave me pause. I didn't want to die… not yet.

The emerald dragon began circling the tree, and I circled with it, trying to stay out of sight. On and on I went, stepping through mud and roots, keeping the trunk between us. Until, eventually, I heard nothing at all. Strange… where had the creature gone? I stared out into the reeds and there, low, half hidden under plant and water, I saw a gleam. And then two eyes. The dragon roared as it lunged at me from underneath a pile of reeds.

I rolled to the side as teeth crunched the section of tree where my back had just been. The tree itself rocked, and instead of letting go, the emerald dragon simply ripped it out of the ground, roots and all. Birds vacated in a hurry, scattering to the wind as the dragon slammed the tree down between us, like some sort of dueling post. I held my knife out in my shaking hand. It was hard to even grip the thing. My heart beat so fast, and I could barely catch my breath.

"Darwin," I said.

"Run away. You can make it."

"Master…" my companion replied sadly. Darwin refused to move. Heh. I guess we'd die together then. The emerald dragon roared and rushed forward, maw open. Darwin's tongue latched onto the front of the dragon as my companion swung forward… and the emerald dragon snapped his mouth shut, swallowing Darwin whole. My mouth hung open. He was gone… just like that. Something deep and primal compelled me forward, and I yelled as I charged, slamming my knife tip-first into the dragon's shoulder.

The knife glanced off, sending a small spark out. It did little to nothing. The dragon spun and hit me with its tail, throwing me back. It felt like I'd been hit with a mallet. Pain burst across my side, and the marsh blurred as I hit the ground hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. Beaten and out of breath, I considered running again. When I forced myself to stand, I could feel something off. Broken ribs was my best guess. I couldn't outrun this thing on the best of days, especially not injured.

The dragon was on me again. It stalked forward slowly, knowing now that I could do little to harm it. It came close, and just as it reached out to snatch me in its mouth, I heard a scream.

"Die beast!" Vaelith screamed as she appeared above the dragon, axe in hand. She flew down and slammed the axe-head against the emerald dragon's neck. I heard the shattering of metal and scales, and a piece of shard hit me in the shoulder, drawing blood and embedding itself in my flesh. It stung like a motherfucker. The dragon blasted a roar and tried to throw Vaelith off, but she gripped the now-open wound in the dragon's neck.

Dark blood ran down the emerald scales in thick lines, steaming faintly where it hit the cooler marsh air.

"Run, you idiot!" Vaelith commanded. I felt a sort of presence inside me as she said it. And, suddenly, that was all I needed to hear. I turned and ran again, and the dragon, sensing I was the weaker target, ran after me, Vaelith still riding on top like she was trying to tame a wild horse.

"Go right," she commanded I had no idea where she wanted to lead me, but my body turned before my mind even reacted to the telling. She gave three more instructions before, finally, I saw what she was directing me at. Between two trees, Pip had made some sort of trap with rope and reeds. There was a hoop, and I knew what it was for. I ran and, just before the emerald dragon snatched me, I jumped through the hoop. The dragon saw it too late and slid into it. It snagged and collapsed, drawing tight.

More traps underneath were set off by the main trap, and each of the dragon's legs was caught. It roared and struggled and roared again. Vaelith stood on top, holding her axe. Half of it was shattered, but she aimed the other half, cocked back, and slammed it into the spot she had previously injured. The rest of her axe shattered, but it bit at least halfway through its neck. The dragon cried and screamed and roared, and almost I felt bad for it… until I remembered that it had eaten Darwin.

In an uncharacteristic move, I climbed the side of the flailing dragon. Vaelith eyed me curiously, but moved as I got into position. I held my knife up high and drove it down into the neck. Over and over and over. Hot blood slicked my hands. The dragon bucked beneath me, scales scraping against my legs and arms. My ribs screamed every time I moved, but I kept stabbing. Until the beast finally settled. It wobbled for a moment… and then it fell, throwing Vaelith and me off.

As we recovered, the three of us stared at what we had done. We had killed a dragon. And none of us could believe it.